Elevator and loading mechanisms



Jan. 3, 1961 J. J. FRIEND, JR

ELEVATOR AND LOADING MECHANISMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 2, 1,957.

FIG-l INVENTOR.

' JOHN \J. FRIEND JR.

ATTORNEYS 3, 1961 J. J. FRIEND, JR 2,966,996

ELEVATOR AND LOADING MECHANISMS Filed May 2, 1957 2- Sheets-Sheet 2 OOOOOOO INVENTOR. 1 JOHN FRIEND JR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent C ELEVATOR AND LOADING MECHANISMS John J. Friend, 312, 404 Warren St., Dayton, Ohio, as-

signor of one-third to George W. Friend and one-third to Mary A. Friend Filed May 2, 1957, Ser. No. 656,675

3 Claims. (Cl. 214-711) This invention relates to elevator structures or hoist mechanisms and is particularly concerned with a structure of this nature that can readily be installed between the floor and ceiling in a conventional building or attached to the side of a building and be operated by a single operator.

In many places, for example, small businesses such as groceries, taverns and like shops, a great deal of merchandise is stored either on an upper or a lower floor and must be transported to the merchandising floor, usually the street level.

In the case of taverns and certain other establishments, there is also a considerable amount of material that must be removed from the main floor to a storage or refuse place as, for example, empty bottles in the case of taverns. Heretofore, this moving of merchandise and the removal of refuse and empty bottles and boxes and the like has either been accomplished manually or a conventional elevator structure has been employed. The disadvantages of manual operation will be self-evident while the provision of .a conventional elevator structure involves a great deal of expense as well as requiring that a considerable amount of space be utilized that could be put to a better purpose in the usual business establishment.

There have been proposed for use in connection with restaurants and the like dumb waiter arrangements in which a hoist platform or elevator platform i driven between upper and lower levels for conveying trays of dishes and the like. These structures, however, have heretofore always been constructed so that the upper level of the platform is substantially above the upper floor level thereby requiring a housing into which the platform moves when it comes up, and such a housing naturally occupies considerable space. Furthermore, such structures require at least two operators so that one at a lower level can either load or unload while an operator is required at the upper level for the same purpose.

Having the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object ofthis invention to provide an elevator or lift structure particularly adapted for easy installation between the floor and ceiling of a building and which requires only a single operator for carrying out particular work operations. 7 Another object of this invention is the provision of an elevator or hoist structure that will fit between the floor and ceiling of a conventional building and require no housing above the floor of the building thereby eliminating the loss of space in the floor above the elevator.

'A still further object is the provision of an extremely simple and inexpensive elevator or hoist structured the nature referred to.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an elevator or hoist structure which is self-unloading at either the top or bottom of its travel whereby a single operator at the one end can operate the structure.

Another object of this invention is the provision ofan elevator structure which is adapted for being self-loading whereby a singleoperator can be positioned at the unload- A 2,966,996 Patente a .3, 1.9

ice

ing end of the elevator travel and accomplish the operation thereof.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a simple elevator mechanism constructed according to the present inven tion installed in a building;

Figure 2 is a vertical section indicated by line 2-2 on Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view looking up from beneath the top cross-bar of the elevator frame showing the manner in which the elevator structure is securedto the underneath side of a building floor;

Figure 4 is a sectional view indicated by line 4-4 on Figure 1 showing the manner in which a roller platform forming a part of the elevator structure is adapted for being detachably mounted thereon and also showing a spacer frame therebeneath;

Figure 5 is a sectional view indicated by line 5-5 on Figure 1 showing a spring device for the drive cable for the platform whereby the cable is maintained taut but whereby a positive lift of the elevator platform can be had;

Figure 6 is a sectional view indicated by cutting plane 6-66 on Figure 1 showing the bar by means of which the elevator platform is tiltable at the bottom of its stroke whereby it becomes self-unloading;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view showing the manner in which the elevator platform can be made tiltable in response to approaching its uppermost position whereby it could be self-unloading at the top of the stroke;

Figure 8 is a view showing the elevator platform in the act of unloading at the bottom of its stroke and delivering its load to a tilted conveyor by means of which it is carried away;

Figure 9 is a sectional view showing the manner. in which the opening in the floor through which the elevator delivers its load can be provided with a tiltable door that will drop closed when the elevator platform is lowered;

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 8 but shows a manner in which the elevator platform can be arranged so as to be self-loading when it reaches its lower position;

Figure 11 is a plan view showing an arrangement whereby a plurality of supply conveyors could be arranged adjacent the elevator platform for the selective supply to the elevator platform of articles prearranged on the said individual supply conveyors;

Figure 12 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner in which a hoist mechanism according to the present invention could be arranged on the outside of a building to provide for a simple hoist mechanism for conveying trash and the like from upper stories down to a receiving bin at ground level;

Figure 13 is a sectional view indicated by line 13-13 on Figure 12 showing the manner in which the track forming a part of the elevator structure could be attached to the building wall; and

Figure 14 is a diagrammatic showing of the electric control circuit for the hoist mechanism.

Referring to the drawings more in detail, the elevator structure shown in Figure 1 comprises a base channel member 10 having upstanding therefrom the short sleeve portions 12 into which extend the lower ends of the rolled channel elements 14 forming vertically extending tracks.- The upper ends of channel elements 14 are received in corresponding sleeves 16 that project downwardly from the underside of a top transversely extending support channel 18. These sleeves may be simple castings bolted in place on the upper and lower support members.

Channel is adapted for being fixed to the floor of a building in a suitable manner, and channel 18 is adapted for being fixed to the underside of the next floor thereabove. This type of installation occurs when the elevator structure is utilized for carrying loads from one floor to another.

The channel members 14 may be continuous between the upper and lower support members 10 and 18, or these elements may be segmented. In certain cases where it is advantageous to segment the elements 14, they may be provided with connecting sleeve means 20 with there preferably being provided brace means 22 therebetween. The sleeve means 20 may be bolted to the channel elements 14 or may be welded thereto in a permanent installation.

According to the present invention, the tracks formed by the channel elements 14 receive rollers 24 which are connected with angle members 26 extending vertically adjacent the channel elements 14, and to which angles there is attached an elevator carriage 28 fabricated of angle irons or which may be constructed in any other suitable manner as, for example, by being made up of cast parts bolted together.

In any case, the carriage 28 is guided in the tracks formed by the channel elements 14 for vertical movement between upper and lower positions. In addition, the carriage 28 has an upper portion adapted for detachably receiving a roller platform 36 comprising rollers or balls 32. Roller platform 39 merely rests upon the top of carriage 28 and is freely tiltable thereon in any direction.

In the arrangement illustrated in Figure 1, the roller platform 30 has dependent from one edge thereof, as illustrated, the back edge, a rod 34 which is adjustable in length, and which is so arranged that as the plat form approaches its lowermost position the rod 34 will strike an abutment and cause the platform 30 to tilt on the elevator carriage 28 whereby any load on the roller platform 30 will roll therefrom. It will be evident that the rod 34 could extend downwardly from any of the four edges of the roller platform, and it is con ceivable that the platform could be square whereby it could be placed in any of four positions on the elevator for this purpose.

For raising and lowering the elevator carriage and the roller platform carried thereon, there is provided the cable means 36 driven by a drive motor 38; and which cable means, as will be observed in Figure 1, extend about upper and lower pulleys and has one reach thereof on each side of the elevator frame connected with the platform.

The pulleys 39 on the motor shaft have grooves in which the cable means fit closely so that great tractive efiort is obtained. The pulleys may have V grooves in which the cable means at least partially wedge, if desired. The upper pulleys 41 are idlers and are mounted in brackets that bolt to the upper support member.

The cable ends are fastened to rods 41a that pass through the angles 42 that extend between the roller supporting angles 26. The rods are connected between the angles 42 to opposite ends of a spring 44. The rods include abutment means at 46 that provide for positive engagement of the means with the carriage. One end of the cable means has an eye 48 while the other end has a bolted clamp 4% whereby installation of the elevator is simplified and the changing of the length of the vertical guide channels and adjustment of the cable means can easily be accomplished.

It will be apparent that the springs will hold the cable means taut and permit a certain amount of movement of the one part of the cable means relative to the platform but whereby positive engagement with the platform is had after the springs have stretched a predetermined amount.

The elevator structure according to the present inven- 4 tion is set in place, as has been mentioned before, by fixing lower transverse member 10 to the floor and securing upper transverse member 18 to the underside of the next floor above. This is illustrated in Figure 3, which is a view looking upward beneath a floor to which the upper end of the elevator is attached.

In this view, it will be seen that the member 18 may fit between a pair of spaced joists 52 with the intervening joist 54 being cut out to receive the platform of the elevator. The portion cut out from the joist 54 is then inserted at 56 as a header to interconnect joists 52 and to support the cut off end of joist 54 at the side opposite transverse member 18. In this manner, the cutout can be made in the floor through which the platform will pass without in any way weakening the building structure; and, in fact, in most cases, the fioor is actually strengthened by the provision of the vertical channel elements 14 which serve as support posts.

The opening in the floor through which the platform projects is preferably closed by a door 58, as will be seen in Figure 9, and this door has projecting bars or the like 6t] thereon so that as the platform comes up through the floor the door will automatically open.

The door can be arranged to drop closed automatically, if so desiired; and in this manner there is no obstruction whatsoever above the floor when the elevator carriage has been lowered.

It will be evident that conditions will vary from one building to another not only as to the distance between one floor and the next, and which is taken care of by the variable lengths of channel elements 14 but, also, as to the thickness of the upper floor itself. This floor, for example, might consist of single flooring or might be double flooring, or might be of some composition material; and, in any case, might vary from an inch or so in thickness to several inches in thickness.

A particularly important feature of the present invention resides in the fact that the elevator carriage moves upwardly to a position where the roller platform is about flush with the upper floor level. Under the circumstances referred to above, even though the floor thicknesses will vary considerably, the roller platform can be arranged to stop at the proper level by providing a spacer frame 62 that rests on elevator carriage 28, and which, in turn, detachably receives roller platform 30. By using spacer frames of different thicknesses, it will be evident that the roller platform can be made to stop flush or only slightly above the floor level under all circumstances.

While it will be evident that many different types of control circuit arrangements could be utilized for operating the elevator or hoist mechanism of the present invention, I prefer a simple and inexpensive circuit arrangement of the type illustrated in Figure 14. In this figure, the motor 38, and which is a reversible motor, is connected between the power lines L1 and L2. A first switch 64 is provided which, when energized, will cause the motor 38 to run in a direction to elevate the elevator carriage.

Switch 64 includes a blade adapted for illuminating signal lamps 66 and 68 located at the upper and lower loading positions of the elevator and the illumination of which indicates that the elevator carriage is in motion. When the elevator carriage approaches its uppermost position, it is adapted for engaging and opening a limit switch LS-l thereby making switch 64 ineffective and stopping travel of the elevator carriage at the proper point.

Thereafter, a second pushbutton station 70 can be operated for causing the elevator carriage to move downwardly, and closing of this switch will also illuminate signal lamps 66 and 68. At its lowermost point, the elevator platform will engage and open limit switch LS-2 thereby making switch 70 ineffective and stopping movement of the elevator carriage.

It will be understood that there would be two of the lam eases-ea switches 64, one at the upper station and one at the lower station, connected in parallel and a similar arrangement of the switches 70 so that the elevator could be moved upwardly or downwardly from either position.

It will also be understood that the motor 38 would be a self-locking gear-head type motor so that deenergization thereof would stop the elevator carriage and support it in any position that it occupied. This motor could include any suitable braking mechanism, if desired, to cause the motor to stop quickly upon deenergization. Further, the motor would preferably include an overload switch mechanism at 72 sensitive to a small amount of overload on the motor for opening the energizing circuit thereto whereby the overloading of the elevator carriage or the jambing thereof or accidental over travel thereof would not cause any damage.

it has already been described how the roller platform can be tilted as the elevator reaches the bottom of its travel. Figure 7 will serve to illustrate the manner in which the platform can be tilted as the elevator approaches the top of its stroke. This can be accomplished by a'lever or a trip-bar or the like 74 adapted for striking an abutment 76 to cause the platform to tilt as it reaches an upper position thereby to unload whatever article is carried thereby.

As will be seen in Figure 8, there is preferably provided an inclined roller conveyor 78 adjacent the unloading position of the elevator. This conveyor can be of any length desired, and if located in the basement of a building, for example, could extend for several yards and receive a substantial quantity of articles.

At this point, it will be evident that the elevator structure of the present invention is particularly adapted for being inserted between two adjacent floor levels in a building, and is particularly characterized in that no floor space is lost on the upper floor, and that substantially any type of conventional merchandise can be carried by the elevator carriage and readily unloaded at either the upper or lower level of the elevator either manually or automatically.

In most cases, the unloading at the upper level will be accomplished manually, and it will be evident that any of the usual items of commerce handled in stores can be carried by the elevator structure of the present invention. For example, cases of groceries or beverages are adapted for being conveyed on the elevator carriage while the elevator structure is amply strong for lifting such larger conventional items of merchandise as washers, d riers and refrigerators.

The present invention also contemplates an automatic loading arrangement which can be utilized for automatically loading the automatic platform when it is lowered so when it is again raised it will bring up to the floor an article that has been loaded thereon. An arrangement of this nature is illustrated in Figure 10 wherein there is a roller conveyor 80 provided on which articles 82 are arranged. Conveyor 80 is inclined so that the articles Will roll therefrom to the elevator carriage 84.

A latch mechanism 86 is provided which is normally urged by a spring 88 to move the right end at 90 downwardly and the left end at 92 upwardly. When this mechanism is so moved the row of articles 82 move downwardly until they strike portion 90 which will halt further movement.- Thereafter, when the elevator carriage comes down it will strike projecting finger portion 94 and tilt the last mechanism so that the left-hand article 82 will be released to roll on to the roller platform of the elevator while the latch mechanism will be tilted to thrust portion 90 up in front of the others of the articles 82. When the elevator next moves upwardly to carry the article 82 thereon upwardly, the latch mechanism will be released to the influence of spring 88 and the row of articles 82 will again move over against the stop portion 92. In this manner, an automatic loading of the elevator carriage can be accomplished.

e As will be seen in Figure 11, a plurality of inclined conveyors 96, 98 and 100 can be arranged around the lower position of the elevator carriage, and each of the conveyors could be provided with articles of a different nature. By providing remote operators for the latch mechanisms pertaining to these conveyors, solenoids or motor operators, for example, selective loading of the elevator carriage from any of the supply conveyors could readily be had.

' it will also be apparent that one or more of the supply conveyors, as is indicated in connection with convyor 100, can be provided with a plurality of other supply conveyors as at 102 and 104, adapted for being controlled by the motor or solenoid-operated gates 106 and 108 so that articles thereon could be discharged over the ball platform 110 to conveyor 100. In this manner, substantially any number of different types of articles could be supplied selectively to the elevator carriage.

A further possibility in connection with the Figure 11 arrangement would be to have one of the conveyors, for example, conveyor 96, inclined downwardly away from the elevator and utilize this conveyor as a discharge conveyor. This could be accomplished by causing the elevator carriage to tilt at the bottom ofits stroke by a motor or solenoid-operated tilt mechanism for discharging a load carried by the elevator carriage; and, thereafter, the elevator carriage would be returned to its normal position and a delivery would be made thereto from one of the other conveyors.

-A particularly advantageous use of a mechanism according to the present inventIon can be made in connection with the carrying of refuse and the like from the upper floors of apartment buildings, oflice buildings, hotels, and similar "structures to a ground level. A diegrammatic representation of such an illustration is found in Figure '12. In Figure '12, the building wall has attached thereto the tracks 122 in which is guided a hoist platform 124 adapted for being driven by cables actuated by a motor 126, all as previously described. The elevator carriage 124 carries a tiltable box or the like 128 spring-urged to a substantially horizontal position on the elevator carriage by spring 130. A latch 132 normally holds the box downwardly, but when the elevator approaches its lowermost position a stop arrangement 13-4 disengages the latch and causes the box to tilt and to discharge its contents into a receiving bin 136.

Control stat-ions can be provided for the elevator, as indicated at 138, where they will be convenient to any one housing to use the elevator from an upper floor.

The channels or tracks 122 may advantageously be secured to the building wall by having support plates welded thereto and attached to the Wall as by bolts 142.

From the foregoing, it will be evident that the elevator structure of the present invention has a plurality of uses and is adapted for being employed advantageously under a plurality of circumstances, and can either be perinanently or temporarily installed either inside or outside the building, can be entirely manually controlled both as to loading and unloading, or can be partially or com pletely automatic as to loading and unloading. The installation of the structure is in any case quite simple, and the structure is always of an inexpensive and a substantially trouble-free nature.

While there has been shown in the drawings a cable drive, it will be evident that chains, bands, belts, or any other flexible drive element could be used to drive the elevator carriage according to the present invention. The flexibility, long life, and low stretch of steel cable particularly aircraft type cablemakes it the preferred one of a number of different operative equivalents. The term cable and cable means is intended to include such equivalents.

It will be seen that the basic structure of the elevator of the present invention comprises a base member, a top member, tracks of any length detachably connected between the base and top members, a carriage guided in the tracks, and a driven loop of variable lengths connected to the carriage and running between the base and top members.

The installation of any elevator can thus be made by utilizing standard components. Furthermore, the length of the tracks can be changed at will by providing for ample length of drive element to fit the longest installation desired. The excess drive element at any time can be carried in a coil on the back of the carriage.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions; and, accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an elevator type mechanism especially adapted for being fitted between one floor and the next floor in a building, a bottom member adapted for being fixed to the lower floor, a top member adapted for being fixed to the underneath side of the upper floor, tracks attached to and extending between said members, an elevator carriage guide in said tracks, the upper floor being apertured, a roller platform on the carriage adapted to extend upwardly through said aperture, a cable connected with the carriage, a reversible motor connected with the cable for driving the cable in its opposite directions, means for energizing said motor, means for deenergizing said motor when the carriage is in a predetermined lower position and also when the carriage reaches an upper position where the roller platform is at substantially the same level as the upper fioor, there being a hinged door normally closing said aperture and being adapted for being raised upwardly by upward movement of said carriage and roller platform, said roller platform being tiltable on said elevator carriage, there being means adjustable for causing tilting of said platform on said carriage as the carriage approaches its lower limit of travel, and conveyor means positioned adjacent the said lower position of the elevator carriage to receive articles that roll from the tilting roller platform.

2. In an elevator structure; a transversely extending channel member forming a base, a transversely extending channel member forming a head piece, sockets formed on said members, channel-like tracks extending between said members and fitted into said sockets, an elevator carriage having supporting rollers in said tracks, a reversible geared head motor on one of said channel members, drive members carried by the output shaft of said motor, flexible drive elements passing over said drive members to be driven thereby, idler means on the other of said channel members over which drive elements pass, one reach of each said element being connected with the elevator carriage so that the carriage can be reciprocated by energization of said motor, switch means for causing de-energization of the motor in response to predetermined movements of said carriage to limit the travel thereof, and other switch means responsive to a predetermined load on said motor for causing deenergization thereof, thereby to provide for overload and overtravel protection, the said geared head motor comprising self-locking gears so that de-energization thereof will bring about halting of the elevator carriage.

3. In an elevator structure, a bottom member adapted for being fixed to a floor, a top member adapted for being fixed to the underside of a ceiling, sockets on said members, tracks fitted into said sockets and extending between said members, said tracks being C-shaped in cross-section, rollers in the tracks and support shafts for the rollers extending out the openings in the tracks, a carriage connected with the shafts so as to be guided in said tracks while being positively retained therein, means for driving the carriage in the tracks between predetermined upper and lower limits, a roller platform detachably and tiltably resting on said carriage, and said carriage being adapted for receiving a spacer frame between it and said roller platform so that the roller platform can be caused to stop at about the level of the upper floor regardless of variations in the thickness of the said floor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,508,492 Wright Sept. 16, 1924 1,849,385 Sekulski Mar. 15, 1932 1,949,964 Keller et al. Mar. 6, 1934 2,154,853 Klyver Apr. 18, 1939 2,220,191 Wylie Nov. 5, 1940 2,548,767 Brest Apr. 10, 1951 2,641,371 Webster June 9, 1953 2,780,373 Westmark Feb. 5, 1957 2,790,567 Rockhill --Apr. 30, 1957 

